What do you or don't you count as exercise?

titi4j

I am looking for some feedback on what some of you count as exercise. I went through a nutrition program and the nutritionist said not to count anything that you would do in your normal day. She said only to count things above and beyond your normal activities. So, I don't count when I walk my dog every day, I only count my walk for exercise. To me this doesn't make sense because you're still burning calories. I see in the database there are things like cleaning, gardening and etc. I'm just wondering what some of your thoughts are on this.

Oh, I also don't "eat back" my walking calories because she said not to do that while trying to lose weight only when you are at a point where you want to maintain. Thanks for your input

teachthal

I had a friend who would count sex as exercise. Not that I disagree, but counting these activities instead of doing real exercise probably won't get you the results you're looking for!

Pnknlvr96

I walk to and from work every day and also walk my dogs, and I count that. I don't count cleaning or general walking around at work, like to the restroom or break room.

I think you could count whatever you wanted, as long as you're willing to sit at the computer and log it all in - which frankly can take up a lot of extra time. Or maybe log it only if you hit a certain time amount, like a half hour. You can log whatever you want. :happy:

Cyclink

Based on what the person told you, I think you need a new nutritionist. Using their logic, if you ran an hour every day, that would count as an every day activity.

NikoM5

Based on what the person told you, I think you need a new nutritionist. Using their logic, if you ran an hour every day, that would count as an every day activity.

They don't need a new nutritionist. Just don't count anything you do normally during the day that isn't performed for the purpose of getting exercise.

Roni_M

I think it will depend on what you entered in your activity level. If you said your lightly active because you walk your dogs everyday then you shouldn't count that again. If you are set to sedentary, then you would enter it since it's not included alreaady in your calorie allowance.

juliebmomof3

I don't count "cleaning" or stuff like that, I count when I go to the gym, or for a run or anything I don't normally do.

tommygirl15

Something that gets your heart rate up, especially for a extended period of time.

sarahg148

If I break a sweat then I count it. If I don't...then I don't count it.

ExplorinLauren

This is always a huge debate.
Do whatever YOU want. Screw everyone else. lol

I don't log my general daily cleaning, but I do log it if I bust my *kitten* scrubbing my 5 bdrm/ 2 story home for an hour or 2. I've worn my HRM doing it, and burn more than I do during my P90X workouts. SO I feel like I should count that. And personally I don't give a s**t what other people think of MY exercise

MichaelYoung1976

If it doesn't make me sweat, I don't count it.

Heyyleigh

Ditto, people who count cleaning and mowing the lawn totally crack me up! I agree the activity needs to be deliberate, not everyday things, you will not get the results you are looking for fast, you will eventually because weight loss is 80% diet if not more.
If you get some sort of tracker - then you will know, I use fitbit and love it, a true motivator!

Healthydiner65

I only count cleaning if I go beyond the norm for me. I count all walks, with dog or without!!!

myfitnessval

i dont count things i normally do, my work burns a solid 1000 extra calories during a full shift, but i also have to keep i mind i gained while living this current lifestyle. lol if you already account for these activities in your cal goal then you'll be fine. i have my cal goal set for a moderately active person and i know on my workout days to log exercise and eat back those cals and on my lazy days where i do nothing all day iknow that i can be under my goal or even over by a few with little consequence.

kellyscomeback

Based on what the person told you, I think you need a new nutritionist. Using their logic, if you ran an hour every day, that would count as an every day activity.

Ditto, I'd get a 2nd opinion. If you normally go for a walk then that's still exercise.

Personally, I don't consider daily housework, laundry, walking around the store, cooking, carrying the kiddos, etc. as exercise, that's my normal daily stuff.
My workout DVDs, going to Bootcamp, if I was to work in the yard, etc. then I would consider those activities as exercise.

Vincentsz

Ditto, people who count cleaning and mowing the lawn totally crack me up! I agree the activity needs to be deliberate, not everyday things, you will not get the results you are looking for fast, you will eventually because weight loss is 80% diet if not more.
If you get some sort of tracker - then you will know, I use fitbit and love it, a true motivator!

I disagree!

What if your lawn is 5.5 acres? You don't mow everyday.

What if your house is 5000sq ft?

I say if it brings your heart rate up for a prolonged period of time(20 minutes or more) log it!

Although I agree diet is 90% of the battle!

jamielovesjbs

i only count things that i didn't do before mfp. cleaning and things are stuff i was doing before and didn't help me lose weight.

Lrdoflamancha

Ditto, people who count cleaning and mowing the lawn totally crack me up! I agree the activity needs to be deliberate, not everyday things, you will not get the results you are looking for fast, you will eventually because weight loss is 80% diet if not more.
If you get some sort of tracker - then you will know, I use fitbit and love it, a true motivator!

I disagree!

What if your lawn is 5.5 acres? You don't mow everyday.

What if your house is 5000sq ft?




I say if it brings your heart rate up for a prolonged period of time(20 minutes or more) log it!

Although I agree diet is 90% of the battle!

What he said!

spencer7593

I need 5 hours per week of "cardio", not as calorie burning exercise, but for cardiovascular health (i.e. reduce my chances of a heart attack, etc.)

I basically don't count any of that 5+ hours (walking, climbing stairs, housecleaning, mowing the yard, washing the car, cleaning out the garage, carrying groceries) as calorie burning "exercise". For me, that just counts as part of my normal metabolic rate. (My baseline is 1 hour per day for 5 days, or 45 minutes a day for 7 days.)

The only activities that I count as "exercise" are activities above and beyond that 5 hours per week: my weight lifting ("strength training") sessions and my "couch to 5K" wind sprint interval training.

Bottom line is that I need some level of "cardio" movement to ward off heart disease. And the calories for those activities is already ac-"count"-ed for in my nutrition targets. I only get "extra" calories for "extra" exercise.

(That, plus I don't really want to mess with trying to figure out how many minutes I moved doing this, and how many minutes I moved doing that... it all just needs to add up to an hour a day.)

But I say whatever works for you, and however you want to "count" your exercise should be fine.

nikilis

apocalypsepwnie

If I lived by the rule of 'don't log things you did while you were fat' I wouldn't be able to log training for roller derby. I can burn up to 1000 calories a session for that. That's stupid.
I'm not going to log little bits of housework but if I'm moving furniture or doing yard work I would! I rarely eat back any of my exercise calories, but with derby days it just gives me more room to move. It's more just for logging's sake so I can track my weeks against my losses.